Hair roller pads

ABSTRACT

A hair roller pad for protecting the head of the user from the pinching or poking of hair rollers. The pad comprises a relatively thin rectangular-shaped member having an elongated slot adjacent one end thereof. The pad is formed of a reusable flexible moisture-absorbent material, such as resilient polyurethane foam, with the slot permitting free flow of a tress of hair therethrough for winding upon a hair roller. In one embodiment the pad is provided with sections which are separable from the remainder of the pad to selectively vary the pad size and thus expeditiously adapt the pad for use with different sizes of hair rollers. In another embodiment, a plurality of the pads are detachably connected together in striplike form for disposal in a compact roll.

United States Patent M Il (72] Inventor William Anthony Clmpnla 2,106,326 l/l938 McFadden l32/36.l 9234 Gettysburg Drive, Warrensville 3,330,471 7/1967 Timms 229/74 H g ts. Ohio 44087 3,358,697 12/1967 Blundell 132/9 P 85o69o Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene 22 Filed Aug. 1, I969 Assistant Examiner-Gregory E. McNelll pa'emed My Anon: Baldwin E an Wallin & F tz Continuation-impart of applimtion Ser. No. ey g g e er 625,188, Mar. 22, 1967.

ABSTRACT: A hair roller pad for protecting the head of the user from the pinching or poking of hair rollers. The pad comm prises a relatively thin rectangular-shaped member having an [54] 7 s: elongated slot adjacent one end thereof. The pad is formed of a reusable flexible moisture-absorbent material, such as [521 US. Cl 132/9 resilient polyurethane foam, with the slot permitting free flow Cl A454 of a tress of hair therethrough for winding upon a hair roller. In one embodiment the pad is provided with sections which 06/56 22 74 are separable from the remainder of the pad to selectively vary the pad size and thus expeditiously adapt the pad for use with [s6] Reknnces cued ditferent sizes of hair rollers. In another embodiment, a plu- UNITED STATES PATENTS rality of the pads are detachably connected together in 2,003,81 l 6/1935 Smith l32/33.7 striplike form for disposal in a compact roll.

L W I 1 i 1 R us PATENTEU JIJL27 nan sum 1 or 2 INVENTOR WILLIAM A. CAMPANA HAIR ROLLER PADS This application is a continuation-in-part application of my copending US. Pat. application, Ser. No. 625,188 filed Mar. 22, 1967 and entitled Hair Roller Pads.

This invention relates in general to the art of curling hair, and more particularly to a novel hair roller pad which is adapted to be interposed between the hair roller and the scalp of the wearer for protecting the wearers head from the pinch and poke of hard or bristly hair rollers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Resilient pads adapted for coaction with hair rollers for use in setting womens hair are known in the art. US. Pats. No. 2,106,326 and No. 2,144,829 issued'respectively on Jan. 25, 1938 and Jan. 24, I939 disclose various cushioning pads for use with hair rollers. However, such prior art arrangements are not entirely satisfactory, since the roller overlies the centrally disposed slot and the pads have been too thick so as to cause hair deformation and especially with respect to an ad'- jacent pad and associatedv hair roller. Moreover,'these pads fora hair roller.

SUMMARY or} THE INVENTION The present invention provides a flexible, resilient, reusable pad for use with a hair roller wherein the pad is of substantially polygonal configuration having an elongated slot adjacent one peripheral edge of the pad with the slot being at least approximately /4 inch in width whereby the hair can flow naturally therethrough for winding upon a hair roller, and without gripping of the hair occurring between the confronting edges of the slot. The pad is extremely flexible and relatively thin so as to not interfere with adjacent rolled hair, and the slot is of such width and length that it can be readily expanded to permit the passage of fingers therethrough for expeditiously drawing a tress of hair through the slot to be wound upon the roller. In one embodiment, means are provided on the pad for selectively varying the size of the pad and thus make it optimumly useful with different sizes of rollers. In another embodiment, a series of the pads in striplike form, detachably connected together, are provided for disposal in a compact roll.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a pad for use with a hair roller toprotect the head of the wearer against the pinch and poke ofa hard roller or a bristle roller.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel cushioning pad for use with hair rollers.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a pad of the latter type wherein the pad includes an elongated slot adjacent one peripheral edge thereof for permitting the free flow of hair through the slot without restriction, and so that the remainder of the pad laterally of the slot can be utilized to cushion the roller.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pad for use with a hair roller wherein the pad is of extremely flexible characteristics for permitting ready defonnation of the 'pad with respect to an adjacent pad and associated hair roller; and without distorting the hair on the associated roller.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a flexible resilient pad for use with a hair roller having an elongated slot adjacent one peripheral edge of the pad, and with the slot being of predetermined width and the pad being of a thickness less than that width so that the hair may pass freely through the slot without interference or distortion.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a flexible reusable resilient pad for use with a hair roller and wherein the pad has an elongated slot of predetermined width adjacent one peripheral edge of the pad, and wherein the pad is formed of a flexible deformable absorbent spongelike material whereby the fingers of the user can be easily passed through the slot while deforming the latter to grip a lock or tress of hair for pulling the hair through the slot and wherein the hair is not gripped or interfered with by the slot but passes freely therethrough to be rolled upon the hair roller.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel flexible, resilient pad for use with a hair roller and wherein the pad has sections which are readily separable from the remainder of the pad for conveniently decreasing the size of the pad when a smaller size roller is used.

A further object of the invention is to provide a series of the pads detachably connected together and disposable in compact rolled form.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

, BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the pad illustrating the slot therethrough adjacent one peripheral edge of the pad; FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the pad with a tress of hair pulled through the slot in the pad and rolled upon a hair roller;

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a plurality of pads applied to respective hair rollers on a wearers head;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary end view illustrating the pad interposed between the scalp and the hair roller device with a tress of hair passing through the slot and rolled upon the hair roller and fastened to the roller;

FIG. 5 illustrates a possible relationship of the slot to a rolled hair roller;

FIG. 6 is afragmentary front elevation illustrating the flexibility of the pads and their ability to be deformed without in terfering with adjacent hair wound rollers;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view illustrating the insertion of two fingers through the slot in a pad which slot isreadily expandable, for grasping a tress of the user's hair for pulling the tress through the slot and thus positioning the pad against the scalp;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a modification of the invention and wherein the pad adjacent its lower end has a detachable section attached to the remainder of the pad for selectively varying the size of the pad, thusincreasing the ability of the pad to be used with many different sizes of hair rollers;

FIG. 9 is a plan view similar to FIG. 8 except that in addition to a removable section adjacent one end of the pad there is provided a removable section adjacent one side of the pad for increasing the width as well as the length of the pad;

FIG. 10 is a plan view illustrating a pad with removable sections attached to both sides of the pad as well as to the end of the pad;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary view showing a modified form of slot in a pad;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view illustrating a series of the pads detachably connected to one another for disposal in rolled up strip form.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now again to the drawings, there is illustrated a pad which in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 is of square configuration. The pad is adapted in use to form a cushion between a hair roller and the scalp. Many materials may be used to compose the pad, such as for instance sponge, felt or other soft absorbent fibers or materials. I prefer to use sponge or polyurethane foam material. The pad has a slot 1 formed in one extreme end of the pad with the slot extending for the greater portion of the entire width of the pad but terminating within the boundaries of the pad. A square pad is preferred because when the slot is formed in the pad at one end, the remainder of the pad or large area portion 3 thereof will be rectangular and preferably just slightly larger than the dimension of the associated roller 7 so as to fit under the roller between the latter and the scalp 6 (as in FIG. 4) to assure protection from the discomfort of the roller. Slot 1 is preferably so disposed with respect to the perimeter 8 of the roller (FIGS. 4 and so as to not allow the roller to be disposed over or to protrude through the slot and thus the roller cannot irritate the scalp 6.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 5, the pad 2 is thus divided into two zones or areas of unequal size, the pad area 3, which is the greater area, and the slotted area 4 which is a relatively small portion of the pad. It will be understood that the slot is not a mere slit in the material since a mere slit will not allow the tresses of hair 5 to be pulled through neatly and will tend to stretch and pull the hair and render a very uneven tress of hair to be set on the roller. By providing a slot of predetermined width, the resistance of the hair strands or tresses 5 to the pad material as they are pulled through the slot 1 is minimized or nonexistent, and the edges of the slot do not grip the hair therebetween. In this connection, it has been found that the width of the slot should be approximately inch to provide optimum characteristics. The length of the slot in the pad size illustrated is approximately 2 inches and the thickness of the pad is approximately vs inch. The thickness of the pad is thus approximately one-half the width of the slot, and the thickness of the pad will not vary with different sizes or areas of pads. Thus the approximately Vs inch pad thickness will be constant irrespective of pad area size. Also, the slot is preferably approximately the same distance from each of the three adjacent edges (i.e. the top edge and two side edges) of the pad. This distance is preferably approximately twice the width of the slot.

In prior art devices wherein a slot was generally centrally located so as to divide a pad into two equal zones on opposite sides of the slot, the pads usually were inserted between the scalp and the curler device by stretching the slot open and forcing the pad over the curling device through the slot and wiggling it into place between the scalp and the curler. This resulted in much trouble and discomfort since the pad pulled downward on the already set hair and either dislodged some of the hair set or didnt sufiiciently protect the scalp from the curling device since the device had already been rolled tightly to the scalp. Thus the pad couldnt be interposed properly between the curler and the scalp.

In the present arrangement wherein the slot I is adjacent an extremity of the pad 2, the pad is applied to the scalp first. A tress of hair 5 is pulled through the slot 1 as in FIG. 2. The pad is adjusted so that all strands of the tress of hair come through the slot 1 as desired to be set on any suitable hair roller 7. Then the hair is rolled according to the style desired and before the fasteners or clips 9 are fastener to the pad and roller. The pad may be given a last adjustment so as to be certain that the entire roller 7 will be resting on the pad area 3 as in FIGS. 4 and 5, protecting the scalp from the discomfort of the roller when the wearer is sleeping. Some rollers are equipped with bristles or brushlike objects which protrude and cause a pinch or poke to the scalp of the user. The present pad will prevent the bristles from harming the scalp. In addition the pad aids the hair in drying since it is made of a moisture absorbent material, such as flexible polyurethane foam.

As can be seen in FIG. 7, the slot can be readily spread apart byjust two fingers of the user, one of which may be the thumb, and the tress or lock of hair can be grasped between the two fingers and pulled through the spread apart slot while the pad is moved toward the scalp for engagement with the latter. The tress of hair can then be rolled upon the roller and due to the width of the slot and its positional relationship with the adjacent end of the pad, the hair passes naturally through the slot and without being gripped or deformed by the slot. The extreme flexibility of the pad in conjunction with the width of the slot and its positional relationship with the adjacent peripheral edges of the pad, provide for this ease in spreading apart of the slot for drawing the tress of hair therethrough.

FIG. 7 illustrates the flexibility of the pad and its ready deformability with respect to an adjacent pad and associated hair roller, thus preventing the cushioning pad from pushing against or interfering with the natural wound condition of the hair on adjacent rollers. The density of flexible polyurethane foam material which is found to be especially effective in cushioning the associated roller while still providing extreme flexibility for the pad so that it does not interfere with adjacent rollers is approximately 4 pounds per cubic foot density.

Referring now to FIG. 8, there is illustrated a modified form of pad which has a greater length L than the previous square pad, thus embodying an additional section 12 of pad. End section 12 is defined by means such as perforations 14 which extend completely through the pad but which detachably connect section 12 to the remainder of the pad. If it is desired to shorten the length of the pad, as for instance when the pads are to be used with smaller diameter rollers, then section 12 can be readily detached from the remainder of the pad to provide for use of the pad with a smaller size roller. Perforations 14 are preferably relatively fine to facilitate the removal as by tearing of section 12 along line 14, from the remainder of the pad. If retained, the section 12 of the pad insures that the roller is cushioned with respect to the scalp and does not extend over the edge of the pad. This type is especially useful-in connection with the extremely large diameter rollers that are presently being utilized in the curling of hair.

FIG. 9 shows a further embodiment wherein an additional section 16 is provided adjacent one side of the pad, thus increasing the overall width W of the pad. This section 16 is likewise detachably connected to the remainder of the pad and by means of relatively fine perforated line 18 which makes it possible to readily detach section 16 from the remainder of the pad. This pad is useful with the greater length hair rollers, and by detaching section 16 from the remainder of the pad, the pad can be adapted for use with shorter length rollers. As can be seen in FIG. 9, the perforated line 14 defining the end section 12, extends completely through the separable side section 16 of the pad, so that if the lower section 12 is removed from the remainder of the pad, it will be removed uniformly across the complete width of the pad.

Referring to FIG. 10, there is illustrated a further modified form of hair curler pad in which selectively removable sections 20, 22 are provided on both sides of the pad and which are defined by perforated lines 20a, 220 respectively. This type of pad is adapted for use with long rollers and rollers of substantial diameters and can be readily adjusted to use for smaller sizes of rollers by detaching one or more of the sections 12, 20, 22 from the remainder of the pad.

FIG. 11 illustrates a modified form of slot 1 in the pad with the slot having rounded ends which aid in preventing tearing of the reusable pad.

FIG. 12 illustrates a series of pads 24, 25, 26, 27, etc., detachably connected together along perforated lines 30, to form a striplike assembly of readily separable pads. The strip of connected pads may be rolled into a compact roll form, as shown in FIG. 12. Such an arrangement facilitates the manufacture, the storage, the packaging and the shipping of a pack of the pads. While the pads illustrated in FIG. 12 are of the general type shown in FIGS. 1-7 it will be understood that the pads of FIGS. 811 could also be made in separable strip form and which may be readily oriented in a roll.

From the foregoing discussion and accompanying drawings it will be seen that the invention provides a novel hair roller pad for protecting the head of the user from uncomfortable hair rollers and a pad which comprise an elongated slot placed adjacent one end thereof with the slot being of sufficient width for permitting the free passage of a lock or tress of hair therethrough for rolling upon an associated roller, and with the pad being of sufficient thinness so as to be readily deformable so that the pad will not interfere with adjacent rollers and with the hair wound upon such rollers. The invention also provides a pad which has detachable sections which can be utilized to selectively vary the size of the pad and thus selectively provide for use of a pad with materially different extending lengthwise in sizes of rollers. The invention also provides a seriesof pads detachably connected together in strip form, and which may be expeditiously oriented into a compact roll.

The terms and expressions which have been used are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such tenns and expressions of excluding any equivalents of any of the features shown or described or portions thereof, and it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the terms and expressions utilized to define the invention.

lclaim:

l. A reuseable freely deformable flexible resilient pad for use with hair rolled on a hair roller including sleeping hours when the users head may rest thereon, said pad being of polygonal configuration in plan and having an elongated substantially rectangular shaped slot formed adjacent to and parallel to one peripheral edge'of said pad, said slot dividing said pad into two unequal areas, the greater area being adapted to receive a rolled hair roller thereon, said slot being of a width of approximately V4 inch, said slot freely permitting the flow of a tress of hair therethrough for winding upon a hair roller and without gripping the hair between confronting lengthwise edges of said slot, said pad being formed of absorbent spongelike material for absorbing moisture from a rolled hair roller, said pad having a thickness less than said width of said slot whereby the pad may be readily deformed with respect to an adjacent pad and associated hair roller without interfering with the orientation of the adjacent hair roller and wound hair thereon, and wherein said pad includes at least one elongated detachable section extending lengthwise generally parallel to said slotiand defining an associated edge of said pad and being adapted for selectively varying the size of said pad, and means extending parallel to said associated edge defining the other lengthwise extremity of said detachable section and facilitating the detachment of said detachable section from the remainder of the pad.

2 A pad in accordance with claim 1 wherein said detachable section is disposed along an end edge of said pad distal from said slot.

3. A pad in accordance with claim 2 wherein the pad has detachable sections extending along both the end edge of said pad distal from said slot andQalong at least one adjacent side edge of the pad, said detachable section extending along said end edge projecting lengthwise generally parallel to said slot while said detachable section extending along said side edge a direction generally transverse of said slot.

v 4. A pad in accordance with claim 1 including detachable pad sections disposed along opposite side edges of said pad, the last mentioned detachable pad sections extending lengthwise in directions generally transverse of said slot.

5. A reuseable freely deformable flexible, resilient pad for use with hair rolled on a hair roller including sleeping hours when the users head may rest thereon, said pad being of polygonal configuration in plan and having an elongated substantially rectangular slot formed adjacent to and parallel to one peripheral edge of said pad, said slot defining said pad into two unequal areas, the greater area being adapted to receive a rolled hair roller thereon, said slot being of a width of approximately 56 inch, said slot freely permitting the flow of a tress of hair therethrough for winding upon a hair roller and without gripping the hair between confronting lengthwise edges of said slot, said pad being formed of absorbent spongelike material for absorbing moisture from a rolled hair roller, said pad hav ing a thickness less than said width of said slot whereby the pad may be readily deformed with respect to an adjacent pad and associated hair roller without interfering with the orientation of the adjacent hair roller and wound hair thereon, the combination therewith of a plurality of other like pads detachably connected together in striplike form, and means coacting with each pad providing for ready separation of said pads from one another, said slot of each of said pads being disposed adjacent to and extending lengthwise generally parallel to the last mentioned coacting means. I

6. The combination in accordance with claim 5 wherein said striplike pad assembly is disposed in compact rolled form.

7. A reusable freely deformable flexible resilient pad for use with hair rolled on a hair roller including sleeping hours when the user's head may rest thereon, said pad being of polygonal configuration in plan and having an elongated substantially rectangular shaped slot formed adjacent to and parallel to one peripheral edge of said pad, said slot dividing said pad into two unequal areas, the greater area being adapted to receive a rolled hair roller thereon, said slot being of a width of approximately V4 inch so as to freely permit the flow of a tress of hair therethrough for winding upon a hair roller and without gripping the hair between confronting lengthwise edges of said slot, said pad being formed of absorbent spongelike material for absorbing moisture from a rolled hair roller, said pad having a thickness less than said width of said slot, said pad because of its thickness being readily deformable with respect to an adjacent pad and associated hair roller without interferring with the orientation of the adjacent hair roller and wound hair thereon, said pad including at least one detachable section for selectively varying the size of said pad upon detachment of said section, means defining said detachable section and facilitating the detachment of the latter from the remainder of the pad, said detachable section extending lengthwise, along an edge of said pad distal from said slot and generally parallel to the direction of extension of said slot.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3 9 247 Dated 1 1 Inventor) William Anthony Cempana It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

On page 1, in the heading, correct the inventor'a address as follows: 9234 Gettysburg Drive, Twinsburg, Ohio 44087 Column 3, line 53, change "fastener" to --fastened-.

Signed and sealed this 11th day of January 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Acting Commissioner of Patents HM USCOMM-DC 60376-P59 ".5 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE |I9 0-355-34 

1. A reuseable freely deformable flexible resilient pad for use with hair rolled on a hair roller including sleeping hours when the user''s head may rest thereon, said pad being of polygonal configuration in plan and having an elongated substantially rectangular shaped slot formed adjacent to and parallel to one peripheral edge of said pad, said slot dividing said pad into two unequal areas, the greater area being adapted to receive a rolled hair roller thereon, said slot being of a width of approximately 1/4 inch, said slot freely permitting the flow of a tress of hair therethrough for winding upon a hair roller and without gripping the hair between confronting lengthwise edges of said slot, said pad being formed of absorbent spongelike material for absorbing moisture from a rolled hair roller, said pad having a thickness less than said width of said slot whereby the pad may be readily deformed with respect to an adjacent pad and associated hair roller without interferiNg with the orientation of the adjacent hair roller and wound hair thereon, and wherein said pad includes at least one elongated detachable section extending lengthwise generally parallel to said slot and defining an associated edge of said pad and being adapted for selectively varying the size of said pad, and means extending parallel to said associated edge defining the other lengthwise extremity of said detachable section and facilitating the detachment of said detachable section from the remainder of the pad.
 2. A pad in accordance with claim 1 wherein said detachable section is disposed along an end edge of said pad distal from said slot.
 3. A pad in accordance with claim 2 wherein the pad has detachable sections extending along both the end edge of said pad distal from said slot and along at least one adjacent side edge of the pad, said detachable section extending along said end edge projecting lengthwise generally parallel to said slot while said detachable section extending along said side edge extending lengthwise in a direction generally transverse of said slot.
 4. A pad in accordance with claim 1 including detachable pad sections disposed along opposite side edges of said pad, the last mentioned detachable pad sections extending lengthwise in directions generally transverse of said slot.
 5. A reuseable freely deformable flexible, resilient pad for use with hair rolled on a hair roller including sleeping hours when the user''s head may rest thereon, said pad being of polygonal configuration in plan and having an elongated substantially rectangular slot formed adjacent to and parallel to one peripheral edge of said pad, said slot defining said pad into two unequal areas, the greater area being adapted to receive a rolled hair roller thereon, said slot being of a width of approximately 1/4 inch, said slot freely permitting the flow of a tress of hair therethrough for winding upon a hair roller and without gripping the hair between confronting lengthwise edges of said slot, said pad being formed of absorbent spongelike material for absorbing moisture from a rolled hair roller, said pad having a thickness less than said width of said slot whereby the pad may be readily deformed with respect to an adjacent pad and associated hair roller without interfering with the orientation of the adjacent hair roller and wound hair thereon, the combination therewith of a plurality of other like pads detachably connected together in striplike form, and means coacting with each pad providing for ready separation of said pads from one another, said slot of each of said pads being disposed adjacent to and extending lengthwise generally parallel to the last mentioned coacting means.
 6. The combination in accordance with claim 5 wherein said striplike pad assembly is disposed in compact rolled form.
 7. A reusable freely deformable flexible resilient pad for use with hair rolled on a hair roller including sleeping hours when the user''s head may rest thereon, said pad being of polygonal configuration in plan and having an elongated substantially rectangular shaped slot formed adjacent to and parallel to one peripheral edge of said pad, said slot dividing said pad into two unequal areas, the greater area being adapted to receive a rolled hair roller thereon, said slot being of a width of approximately 1/4 inch so as to freely permit the flow of a tress of hair therethrough for winding upon a hair roller and without gripping the hair between confronting lengthwise edges of said slot, said pad being formed of absorbent spongelike material for absorbing moisture from a rolled hair roller, said pad having a thickness less than said width of said slot, said pad because of its thickness being readily deformable with respect to an adjacent pad and associated hair roller without interferring with the orientation of the adjacent hair roller and wound hair thereon, said pad including at least one detachable section for selectively varying the size of said pad upon Detachment of said section, means defining said detachable section and facilitating the detachment of the latter from the remainder of the pad, said detachable section extending lengthwise along an edge of said pad distal from said slot and generally parallel to the direction of extension of said slot. 